2026-07-14
After the June drop
Every year the trees shed a share of their young fruit in early summer, and every year it still feels like a small disaster. This time it was gentle. The 'Discovery' kept almost everything, so I spent two evenings thinning by hand, one apple per cluster, roughly a hand's width apart.
We had nine foggy mornings in a row. The orchard goes silent in the fog; even the gulls give up. I like walking the rows at six, when everything drips and the hedge is only a grey shape at the end of the path.
Mildew is the price of fog. I am trying a milk spray on two trees and leaving two as a comparison. Results, honestly reported, in autumn.